Calendar timepiece



June 17, 1969 R. BESSON 3,449,905

CALENDAR TIMEPIECE Filed Feb. 23, 1967 j 45 FI6.1

J a 1+ 21 7a Ma Q 17a? 42 I I I V I) INVENTOR Ren Besson ATTORNEY United States Patent U.S. Cl. 58-58 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A calendar timpiece of the instantaneous date advance type incorporating control means for the date indicator which includes an elastic connecting means whereby the priming of the date advance operation does not interfere with manual resetting of the time or the date.

The present invention relates to a calendar timepiece, and more particularly to a calendar timepiece with a socalled instantaneous advance of the date indicator.

In timepieces of this type, when resetting to the calendar date is effected otherwise than by a member for resetting the time of the watch and particularly if the means allows a very rapid resetting to the calendar date, the control members of the date indicator may be put out of order if a manual adjustment of the date is effected while the so-called instantaneous mechanism is being prepared to operate, a preparation which lasts a certain time.

It is an object of the present invention to remedy these drawbacks by providing in a timepiece of the above-mentioned type, a mechanism in which the operation of instantaneous advance of the date indicator may be prepared without preventing the manual adjustment of the device for resetting the calendar date.

The timepiece according to the invention comprises, in combination, a movement, a date-indicator and a mechanism comprising a control member arranged to drive said date indicator intermittently, a driving wheel making one turn in 24 hours, elastic connecting means intermediate said driving wheel and said control member, displaceable stop means against which said control member comes into abutment before coming into engagement with said date indicator, the displacements of said stop means being controlled by the timepiece movement in such a way that when said stop releases the control member, the latter, under the action of the elastic connecting means which is cocked during arrest of the control member, eflFects an abrupt displacement thereby driving the date indicator one step, in one so-called instantaneous jump.

In order that the invention may be more fully understood, one embodiment of a calendar timepiece constructed in accordance with the invention is described below by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a part of a timepiece, showing only the members necessary for the comprehension of the invention, and

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section along the line II--II of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings, the timepiece shown comprises a date crown wheel 1 for indicating the date mounted rotatably on the frame of the movement, on which are borne the indications 2 of the dates, of which only a part has been shown. The positioning of the crown wheel 1 is ensured by a jumper 3 pivoted at 4 on the frame of the movement and subjected to the action of a return spring 5 which tends to apply it against an internal tooth 6 of the crown wheel 1.

3,449,905 Patented June 17, 1969 The date crown wheel 1 is driven, at the rate of once every 24 hours, by a control member constituted by the finger 7a of a disc 7 mounted loose on a sleeve 8 rigidly attached to a wheel 9 making one turn in 24 hours. The wheel 9 is driven by a gear 10 rigidly attached to a wheel 11 itself in engagement with the hour barrel wheel 12, of which only a part has been shown.

The disc 7 carries a pin 13 traversing an opening arranged as a circular are 14 in the wheel 9 which carries a pin 15. The two pins 13 and 15 serve as support points for the ends of a spring 16 rolled around a swivel pin 17 borne by the support plate, designated by 18, of the movement, and on the terminal part 17a on which is engaged the sleeve 8.

The mechanism includes a rocker 19 pivoted at 20 on the frame of the movement, having a fork between the branches 19a and 19b with which is engaged an eccentric So on the sleeve 8. This eccentric thus turns with the wheel 9 to which it is rigidly attached. The branch 19a of the fork of the rocker 19 has a projection 19c carrying a pin 21, with a flat end, constituting a stop for the control finger 7a, in certain positions of the rocker 19.

The mechanism described operates in the following manner:

In normal operation, the disc 7 is driven by the wheel 9, in the direction of the arrow 22 (FIGURE 1), through the spring 16, which is not cocked. In the course of this rotation, the control finger 7a of the disc 7 meets the pin 21 and comes into abutment against it. The wheel 9 continues then to turn alone, cocking the spring 16.

Simultaneously, the eccentric 8a causes the rocker 19 to rock around its axis 20, in the contrary direction to that of the hands of a watch, so that the pin 21 is displaced, to tree passage for the finger 7a. The members have been shown in FIGURE 1 in a position a little prior to this operation. The control finger 7a is then freed and, under the action of the spring 16, effects an abrupt displacement in the direction of the arrow 22, in the course of which it acts on the teeth 6 of the date crown wheel 1 to advance it by one step.

It should be noted that in the course of this rapid movement of the disc 7, its pin 13 is urged against the jumper 3 to disengage it from the crown Wheel 1, so that this is then displaced freely, which is particularly advantageous in the case of electric timepieces, in which the reserve power is limited. When the operation is completed, the pin 13 has left the jumper 3 which, under the action of the return spring 5 is brought back into engagement with the teeth 6, completing the advancing movement of the crown wheel I started by the finger 7a.

As a result of this arrangement, the control finger 7a is outside the path travelled by the teeth 6 of the crown wheel 1 during all the preparation for the instantaneous advance operation. Hence the manual resetting of the date of the calendar timepiece, by means of a control device independent of the mechanism for resetting the time, can be carried out at any time.

It should be noted however that a considerable resetting of the time carried out in a direction inverse to the normal direction of movement could bring the finger 7a into abutment against the back part of the pin 21. In this case, an inclined plane 23 on the finger 7a tends to displace the pin 21 towards the left of FIGURE 1. This displacement is made possible by the fact that the branch 1% of the rocker 19 is elastic, so that it yields under the action of the inclined plane 23 acting on the pin 21. In the course of such a setting of the time in reverse direction, the jumper 3 is disengaged from the crown wheel 1 by the pin 13 of the disc 7; crown wheel 1 however does not risk being inopportunely displaced, due to the fact that at this moment the finger 7a is in engagement with the teeth It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a calendar timepiece movement having an instantaneous advance date indicator in which the mechanism for producing the instantaneous advance comprises: a control member adjacent and intermittently driving the date indicator, a driving wheel coaxial and on a common shaft with the control member and making one rotation each 24 hours, elastic connecting means intermediate and supported by the driving wheel and control member, displaceable stop means disposed adjacent for abutment by the control member preliminary to engagement with the date indicator, a rocker pivoted on the movement and carrying the stop means, and an eccentric driven by the movement for controlling displacements of the rocker with the stop means releasing the control member and with the connecting means cocking during arrest of the control member enabling the control member under the action of the connecting means to effect an abrupt displacement for driving the date indicator one step in an instantaneous jump.

2. In the calendar timepiece defined in claim 1, the elastic connecting means comprising a spring circumscribing the shaft of the driving wheel and control member and having one end bearing against a pin carried by the control member and the other end bearing against a pin carried by the driving wheel, with an arcuate opening in the control member traversed by one of the pins.

3. A timepiece mechanism according to claim 1, including jumper means for ensuring the stability of the date indicator in its stationary positions with the control member acting on the jumper means for disengaging the jumper means from the date indicator as the latter is actuated.

4. A timepiece mechanism according to claim 1, the eccentric being rigidly attached to the driving wheel.

5. A timepiece mechanism according to claim 1, the rocker including a fork between the branches of which the eccentric is engaged with at least one of the branches being elastic so as to yield when resetting the time of the movement is effected in a reverse direction and the rocker is displaced by the control member of the date indicator being urged against the stop means.

6. A timepiece mechanism according to claim 5, wherein the control member includes a ramp-shaped cam surface which engages a rounded rear surface of the stop means in the course of the resetting in reverse direction thereby displacing the rocker.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,082,594 3/1963 Stamm et a1 58-58 3,093,958 6/1963 Meyer 5858 3,350,873 11/1967 Egger et al. 58--4 3,352,103 11/1967 Giger 5858 3,353,348 11/1967 Brashear 5858 3,367,104 2/1968 Rogers 5858 FOREIGN PATENTS 339,129 7/ 1959 Switzerland.

374,336 2/ 1964 Switzerland.

416,469 1/ 1967 Switzerland.

RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner.

S. A. WAL, Assistant Examiner. 

